Central Philippine University (also known as Central or CPU) is a private Protestant research university in Iloilo City, Philippines. Established in 1905 through a grant from the American industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, as the Jaro Industrial School and Bible School under the supervision of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society,"100 Leaders in World History: John D. Rockefeller" . Retrieved April 4, 2015."A tight-fisted businessman turned philanthropist" . Retrieved April 4, 2015. it is "the first Baptist and the second American and Protestant-founded university in the Philippines and in Asia"."John D. Rockefeller". Retrieved April 4, 2015."John D. Rockefeller (American History USA)" . Retrieved April 4, 2015."The Philanthropists: John D. Rockefeller". Retrieved April 4, 2015.
The university pioneered nursing education in the Philippines through the establishment of the Union Mission Hospital Training School for Nurses (now CPU College of Nursing) in 1906, the first nursing school in the Philippines. It also established the first student government in Southeast Asia, the CPU Republic (1906); the first government-recognized agricultural school outside of Luzon, the CPU College of Agriculture, Resources and Environmental Sciences; the first Baptist and second Protestant theological seminary in the country, the CPU College of Theology (1905), and the first Protestant and American hospital in the Philippines, the CPU–Iloilo Mission Hospital (1901).
The university has been granted full autonomy status by the Commission on Higher Education (Philippines), the same government agency that recognized its academic programs as National Centers of Excellence in Agriculture and Business Administration, and as National Centers of Development in Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, and Teacher Education.CHED Centers of Excellence and Centers of Development List. Retrieved 08/15/2025.CHED Centers of Excellence and Development in various Engineering programs. Retrieved 08/15/2025/ It is also an ISO Certified Institution.CPU maintains commitment to quality education, retains ISO 9001:2015 Certification. Retrieved 08/15/2025.
Central has been recognized globally, ranking among the top universities in the Philippines and worldwide by two notable international university ranking agencies, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Times Higher Education (THE). CPU reclaims spot in the QS World University Rankings: Asia 2025. Retrieved 09.14.2025CPU continues global recognition in 2025 THE Impact Rankings. Retrieved 09.14.2025 It has also been ranked by the World University Ranking for Innovations (WURI).Central Philippine University makes historic debut in WURI 2025 Rankings. Retrieved 09.14.2025 In addition, AppliedHE recognized Central as one of the top private universities in Southeast Asia and Asia.
CPU's main campus is a Registered Cultural Property by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and a Marked Historical Site by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.A Legacy of Heritage: Central Philippine University Buildings Listed in the Philippine Registry of Heritage. Retrieved 09.14.2025 The Hinilawod Epic Chant Recordings, housed at the university's Henry Luce III Library, has been inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.Hinilawod Epic Chant Recordings Secured in UNESCO's Memory of the World Registry. Retrieved 09.14.2025
At present, the university is consist of eighteen schools and colleges offering academic programs from basic education up to baccalaureate and graduate studies. In tertiary education level, it offers courses in Agriculture and Environmental Sciencess, Accounting and Business Administration, Biology and Chemistry, Computer Studies, Engineering, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Law, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Library Science, Mass Communication, Medical Laboratory Science, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Political Science, Public Administration, Psychology, Teacher Education, and Theology.
The university administers the Fortress College in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental and maintains overseas academic programs with Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration (TUEBA) in Vietnam.CPU Transnational Program gears for more academic partnerships. Retrieved 09.14.2025.
Central's alumni include Filipino senators, congressmen, and legal luminaries; National Artists of the Philippines; laureates of notable awards like Ramon Magsaysay Award and Rolex Award for Enterprise; presidential cabinet members, military officials; provincial governors and city mayors; and business tycoons.
History Incorporation and founding
In the early 20th century when the Philippines was opened to the American Protestant missionaries after the Philippines was ceded by Spain to the United States through the 1898 Treaty of Paris after the Spanish–American War, a comity agreement by the Protestant American churches was established that the Philippine islands will be divided into mission territories, thus the Western Visayan region went to the jurisdiction of the Baptists.
The origins of Central Philippine University dates back in 1901 when the American Northern Baptists, through its foreign mission board, the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, laid a plan to establish mission schools following the comity agreement of the division of the islands for the evangelical mission and through a benevolent grant given by John D. Rockefeller, an American industrialist and philanthropist.ALL IN THE FAMILY: Rockefeller's greatest decision (Philippine Daily Inquirer) – by Queena N. Lee-Chua. Retrieved February-15-2016. Rockefeller himself was a devoted Northern Baptist with numerous church related philanthropy works throughout his life, that is why he gave a grant to the Northern Baptists that resulted in the establishment of Central.Brief Biography of WO Valentine from The Centennial Echo, Central Philippine University, 2004 . Retrieved 1/16/13.Founder's Day Celebration at Central Philippine University, 1 October 2005 . Retrieved 1/16/13.John D. Rockefeller Biography. Retrieved 12–21–13.
On the other hand, in 1901 also, four years before the founding of Central in 1905, alongside when the American Baptists came in Iloilo, the Presbyterians came and they established the Union Mission Hospital (Sabine Haines Memorial Union Mission Hospital) (which Central, since its founding until this day is closely associated with as its university hospital) under the Presbyterian Church in the United States by Joseph Andrew Hall, it is the first Protestant and American hospital in the Philippines. Since the hospital's founding, Presbyterians worked closely with the Baptists for the operation of the hospital. Following the years since its founding, in 1925, its administration was eventually transferred to the Baptists who also bought the land in the City of Jaro (now part and a district of Iloilo City) where the hospital now stands. The hospital was later renamed to Iloilo Mission Hospital in 1932. The hospital predates the schools founding by four years. It also serves since then as the hospital of Central. The hospital pioneered the Nursing education in the Philippines when it established the Union Mission Hospital Training School for Nurses (the present Central Philippine University College of Nursing) in 1906. The school also produced the first graduate nurses in the country.
Then in 1903, there will be two schools that will be established by the mission: an industrial school for boys and a Bible school to train pastors and other Christian workers was incorporated. Later, it was voted on December 2, 1904, to finally establish the two schools. The task to found both schools was given to William O. Valentine, an American missionary, who became the first principal and president with the help of the other co-founders. Valentine was in the service of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, where he first ministered as a missionary in Burma, first in Rangoon, then in Mandalay, where he became the principal of the Baptist Mission High School for Boys in 1895. The new mission was given to him by the mission society in 1903. During his eighth year in Burma he suffered severe sunstroke and returned to America for treatment. There he met his future wife, nurse Ina Jane Van Allen. Valentine and Van Allen were married in 1903 and the couple left for his new appointment in Iloilo in the Philippines.
The establishment of the Baptist Missionary Training School and the Jaro Industrial School is associated with the first Baptist church in the Philippine Islands, the Jaro Evangelical Church, which was established on February 28, 1900, by the Northern American Baptists also, now the American Baptist Churches. On June 1, 1905, the Bible School opened in the home of the Valentines under the auspices of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society from the United States along with other missionaries that are considered as co-founders. There were 12 pupils with some "Bible Women" who attended as auditors.College of Theology, Central Philippine University History .
The benevolent grant given by the industrialist and oil magnate John D. Rockefeller was used to provide the school the facilities during the school's establishment along with the industrial school (which was later established in the fall of 1905) and to purchase a 24-hectare piece of land in the City of Jaro (now a part of Iloilo City) where Central's main campus is located at present.Central Philippine University 110 Years Anniversary – Souvenir Program. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
In the fall of 1905, the Jaro Industrial School was opened as a free vocational boarding school for poor boys.Juanito M. Acanto, "The Work-Study Service Program: Centennial Legacy of Central Philippine University," Manila Bulletin, October 2, 2005, p. 11. The first class consisted of 20 boys who worked four hours a day to pay their tuition, room and board, and spent four hours in the classroom.Linnea A. Nelson and Elma S. Herradura, Scientia et Fides. The Story of Central Philippine University, 1981The Central Time 1905–2005, Centennial Yearbook of Central Philippine University (Iloilo, 2005)Central Philippine University: 99 years of service in quality Christian education . Retrieved May-03-2012 One of the school's innovations was the adoption of student self-government, the first in the South East Asia, known today as Central Philippine University Republic, which is modeled on American civil government. Dr. William Orison Valentine, worked for its incorporation and recognition by the Philippine government.Brief Biography of WO Valentine from The Centennial Echo, Central Philippine University, 2004 . Retrieved May-09-2012
A year later when Jaro Industrial School was established, one of the school's innovations was the adoption of student self-government which is modeled on American civil government, the Jaro Industrial School Republic. The Republic continues to this day as the Central Philippine University Republic. It still holds the distinction as the oldest student governing body in South East Asia.National Registry of Historic Sites and Structures in the Philippines. Retrieved 4/9/13. The original purpose of the founding of the industrial school for boys was quoted a century later in 2005 during the centennial celebrations of the university:
"The original purpose of the school (Jaro Industrial School) was to provide opportunity for poor Filipino boys to receive a good Christian education by working their way through school. Actual work experience and earnest study of the Bible were the core of the curriculum."